Hedger mulls Senate bid

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Press Photo by Ashley Martin Kristin Hedger, left, rolls up a wire harness at Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing in Dickinson Friday afternoon while Yvonne Meyer, floor lead at the company, looks on. Hedger has announced her interest in running for the U.S. Senate.

Talk about it

A month after being urged to run for the U.S. Senate by a former North Dakota democratic state senator and party official, Kristin Hedger of Dickinson announced Friday she is considering taking on the challenge.

Hedger, who is 29 and vice president of Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing, plans to announce her decision in days.

She is a former aide to North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, who is not running for re-election.

“I’ve long had a passion for serving in North Dakota and having worked in Sen. Dorgan’s office, and having extensive experience in the United State’s Senate, that’s a position of great interest for me,” Hedger said.

Hedger has been working with other officials at KMM to be sure her obligations to the company can be met while on the campaign trail.

“If I can get things structured soundly, I have a very good message that I’d like to share with North Dakotans and I’d like to go to work for them,” Hedger said.

Early last month, attorney and former Minot Democratic Sen. Jim Maxson publicly called for Hedger’s candidacy.

Hedger ran against Al Jaeger for secretary of state in 2006 and lost.

“There are a lot of people that were impressed with her but she was very young and that scared some people,” said Jeremy Mercer, KMM chief engineer and director of information technology.

Maxson said his mantra is getting younger people involved in politics.

“It’s clear that we need to have somebody with a sense of urgency stepping up in Washington to bring some fresh perspectives,” Hedger said. “I think that my age is a strength, particularly in the United States Senate, because it’s clear that folks we have in there now are struggling super hard, too.”

Hedger said if she became a senator, she would focus much of her attention on the country’s fiscal situation. She would also like to work for small business growth and health care reform. She would also back the area’s energy and agricultural communities.

“It’s a commitment that I’m willing to make for North Dakotans, because I know we need to have a passionate new generation of leadership step up, but I also want to make sure that I don’t prematurely leave my leadership role that I currently have,” Hedger said.

Maxson called her an energetic, intelligent and hardworking woman.

“She has all of the potential to be somebody that I would be proud to have representing North Dakota,” Maxson said.

Hedger grew up in the Killdeer area and in Texas.

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